The present invention relates generally to rotary electric devices and more particularly to a device that includes a rotor member that is positioned to rotate in, and about, an axis of a bore so that there is contact between a relatively small portion of the rotor and the periphery of the bore.
Numerous devices have been proposed and utilized to provide very high speed ratios, e.g., between 100 to 1 and 1000 to 1, between rotating shafts. Most of the prior art devices have been mechanical, employing many gear sets or step pulleys. In addition, low speed motors have been proposed for the same purpose. These prior art devices are physically large and relatively inefficient in transferring power from one shaft to another. Inefficiency occurs in the mechanical devices because of the considerable friction that exists between the large number of interacting moving parts. The electrical devices have also been relatively inefficient because they have utilized an air gap between a rotor and a rotating magnetic field. The air gap has a high magnetic reluctance to reduce the magnetic flux coupled to the rotor, resulting in a loss of energy.